Lake Bled is probably the most famous destination in Slovenia, even more so than the capital Ljubljana. Photos of the mysterious looking Bled Island in the centre of the lake always come up when mentioning Slovenia and even though I didn’t initially think so, it is worthy of the attention. Bled was one of those places I had always dreamt of visiting, a place I had built up in my mind as the most beautiful place in Central Europe.

But my first impression of the town was not a good one. The town itself is very modern, as in post-war communist era concrete architecture modern. Of course no one goes to Bled to visit the modern town, only the castle, lake and Bled Island. So as long as you keep your back to the unattractive town and only look to the right when looking over the lake from the castle, then you’ll be rewarded with one of the most stunning views in Europe.